15.0 Elsewhere: Thyatira

There is an example which took place at the Greek city of
Thyatira, in which a man became saved. This particular
example is commonly misused by many who say that water baptism is
unnecessary. It reads:

ACTS 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in,
and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,ACTS 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?ACTS 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Believe what about Jesus Christ?? That He was a Jew? a
Greek? Perhaps that he was tall? that He was a farmer? a
carpenter? a plumber? Believe what?

Nevertheless, all to many people slap their Bibles shut at this
point and say "See there—Believe only!" In
doing so, they ignore Christ's commandment of baptism
completely. Nevertheless, at the very next verse,
the jailor was told what to believe about Jesus
Christ:

ACTS 16:32And they spake unto him the word of the
Lord, and to all that were in his house.ACTS 16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night,
and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and all his, straightway.

The pattern that this incident follows has already been seen in
earlier precedents, and does not present anything new.
Compare this incident with what we have already read:

From section 9, above:ACTS 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria,
and preached Christ unto them.ACTS 8:12 But when they believed
Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Philip "preached Christ." The Samaritans were
told what to believe about Jesus Christ. When
they believed, they acted according to that belief and were
baptized. Therefore, water baptism was among the things
that Philip preached, when he "preached
Christ." For more details, see section 9.

Likewise, from section 10, above:ACTS 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at
the same scripture, and preached unto him
Jesus.ACTS 8:36 And as they went on their way, they
came unto a certain water: and the eunuch
said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to
be baptized?ACTS 8:37 And Philip said, If thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.ACTS 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the
eunuch; and he baptized him.

Philip "preached unto [the eunuch] Jesus."
He was told what to believe about Jesus. When
he believed, he was baptized (it was the eunuch who
implored "why can't I be baptized?"). For more
details, see section 10.

Just as in either of these two preceding examples, the jailor
was first told that he must believe in Jesus Christ at
Acts 16:31. Then, at Acts 16:32, he
was told what to believe about Jesus Christ. In
accordance with this belief, he was baptized at
Acts 16:33!

15.1 Other observations on the baptism of the jailor at Thyatira

15.1.1Baptism was part of the word of the Lord that
was taught at Acts 16:32.

15.1.2The jailor and his household were baptized in
the name of "Jesus Christ." The jailor was
specifically told that he must "believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ" at Acts 16:31. In the next verse, he was
taught "the word of the Lord," (whose name is Jesus
Christ, per Acts 16:31). "The Lord Jesus
Christ," is the only name mentioned or referred to
in this incident. Furthermore, it has been previously
established (in section 6.1)
that the phrase "in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost" is never mentioned in the
book of Acts. With this in mind, along with the precedent
stated at Acts 2:38, the only reasonable and honest
conclusion that can be made is that the jailor and his house
were baptized in the name of "The Lord Jesus Christ."

15.1.3The scriptures do not specifically say that
this jailor believed. There are those who point out
that the book of Acts does not always specifically mention
baptism at each example in which men are saved. It should
be noted that at Acts 16, the Bible likewise does not say
that the jailor believed either.

So the question remains: did the jailor believe? He
did. How do we know this? It doesn't actually
say that he believed. It is understood
that the jailor believed, because of the precedent (section 7) of earlier examples
(Acts 2:41, Acts 4:4, etc.), and because of what is
plainly written elsewhere, at Mark 16:16, and
Hebrews 11:6, etc.